Ex-Texas Officer Who Shot and Killed Atatiana Jefferson Sentenced to Nearly 12 Years

Mar. 15, 2025

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The former Texas police officer who gunned downAtatiana Jeffersonin her home has been sentenced to almost 12 years in prison.

Aaron Dean, a white police officer, fatally shot Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, while police were responding to an “open structure call” in October 2019 as her home’s door was open. Her now 11-year-old nephew Zion was with Jefferson when she was fatally shot. He was 8 at the time of the shooting.

Dean was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder earlier this month; he could have been sentenced to 20 years.

Instead, a jury in Tarrant Countyunanimously sentenced himto 11 years, 10 months and 12 days, according to Fox’s Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate station KDFW. The decision came after the jury deliberated for a day and a half.

Jefferson’s sister Ashley Carr reacted to the sentencing after a gag order was lifted.

“Would we want more time? Yes, we would. But that’s what the jury decided,” said Carr while standing outside of Jefferson’s home, according to the news station.

“This has been hard guys,” she continued. “These three years have been hard.”

She noted the significance of the sentencing, pointing out Zion’s age.

“11 years is same age as Zion. 10 months and 12 days, that’s the day that it happened. There’s a message in this,” she said, according to KDFW. “It may not be the message that we wanted and the whole dream, but that is some of it.”

The family’s attorney, Lee Merritt, called the sentencing “a relief.”

“It wasn’t exactly the justice we all thought Atatiana deserved, but it does represent a historic moment in Fort Worth and Tarrant County,” he said, per KDFW.

PEOPLE reached out to Merritt for comment but did not immediately hear back.

The news station added that Carr and Merritt plan to file federal charges against Dean, who will be up for parole after serving half of his sentencing. If he appeals, he will stay in jail as those proceedings play out.

Ina pointed message to Dean, Carr said, per KERA News, “I have loathed the idea of you with your family during the holiday seasons for the last three years. Today, I have just arrived at pity.”

She said she believes the former officer has no plans to “truly repent,” adding, “I pity you for your ignorance. You do not know enough to be ashamed.”

NBC News reported that Carr deliveredan emotional victim impact statementand said her late sister was “a beautiful flower just starting to bloom.”

She added, “My sister did not do anything wrong. She was in her home, which should have been the safest place for her to be.”

Dean’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Jefferson was killedon Oct. 12, 2019, when Fort Worth, Texas, police responded to an “open structure call” in the 1200 block of E. Allen Avenue at around 2:30 a.m. A neighbor called authorities to report that Jefferson’s front door was open.

Jefferson had been playing video gameswith Zion when the call was made, but the neighbor had simply asked for cops to check on the Texas woman out of concern for her safety, after noticing that her front door was open.

An “open structure” or “open door call” is much different than awellness check, Michael “Britt” London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, told CNN.

With an “open structure” call, officers are typically on higher alert, as reports could vary from a door accidentally being left unlocked to something more serious like a burglary.

The officer, later identified as Dean, never identified himself as a police officer before firing.

source: people.com